10 Things Customer-Obsessed Companies Do Differently

So what do customer-obsessed companies do differently than most? Here are our top 10 differentiators:

1. They focus on customer satisfaction retention over customer acquisition: In a 2013 Forrester survey of global CMOs, 63% listed acquiring new customers as their top priority, while just 22% said retaining current customers was their top goal. Customer-obsessed companies don’t obsess over wanting more; they appreciate and take care of what they’ve got, letting the brand advocates drive new customer acquisition.

2. They align brand strategy with the customer experience: Customer-obsessed companies don’t just talk the talk on being focused on their customers; they walk the walk. A poll of Forrester’s Customer Experience Council reveals that just 18% align customer experience with the brand strategy, a necessity in creating consistent positive customer/brand interactions and conformational messaging.

3. They are nimble and connected: Customer-obsessed companies break down siloes and create seamless service experiences and customer experiences across the standard and emerging channels their customers are using every day.

4. They use multiple sources of customer data to respond in customer-friendly ways and predict next actions: Customer-obsessed companies create a relationship of trust. They use data to get to know and show that they know each customer, and then they go beyond this to predict and suggest best next actions and purchases.

5. They use customer intelligence to gain insight at scale that leads to better products over time: Customer-obsessed companies don’t just listen to and solicit feedback; they act upon it to develop the products, services and brand their customers desire.

6. They don’t just talk about the customer experience; they invest in it: Notes David Cooperstein in the Forrester report, Competitive Strategy in the Age of the Customer, “a customer-obsessed enterprise focuses its strategy, its energy and its budget on processes that enhance knowledge of and engagement with customers and prioritizes these over maintaining traditional competitive barriers.”

7. They recognize that the customer journey is almost never a straight line: Customer-obsessed companies don’t just deliver on Omni-channel service and support; they invest in creating a 360-degree view of the customer that maps the customer journey and details customer history and feedback across all channels. Then they use this in real-time service.

8. They create a connection with the customer post-transaction: Customer-obsessed companies focus on customer engagement both shortly and long after the sale. They communicate proactively and personally in an authentic way.

9. They invest in content creation over advertising: Customer-obsessed companies develop and deliver helpful, shareable content rather than pushing promotional content and advertising.

10. They are flexible to customers’ needs: Customer-obsessed companies realize that customer service and the customer experience is not one-size-fits all and align their processes and empower their staff to make sure that each customer interaction is personalized and satisfying.

The Age of the Customer is upon us… Is your brand becoming customer-obsessed?

I am Head of Marketing helping my consulting company to deliver innovative change to our customers. This is really exciting because we are right at the forefront of the 2 biggest challenges that are facing execs over the next 3 years - how to meaningfully deliver a customer centric agenda and driving efficiency and cost reduction through fixing broken process. The exciting bit is that we can deliver performance improvements the old approaches can only dream of and in a fraction of the time.

1 COMMENT

I read it bottom up and it works.
Perhaps as a trainer I feel, the starting point is to train the in-company people and inject in them a sense of belonging and feed them with all information they should feel proud that the product and service they deliver to the customer, are superior to that of most of the competitor’s. They would bask in the reflected glory and sure to enjoy the fun.
My compliments to you Lucie.

Combining his own professional experiences working as a CEO with his extensive research and expertise as an international authority on customer relationships, author Bob Thompson reveals the five routine organizational habits of successful customer-centric businesses: Listen, Think, Empower, Create, and Delight.

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